Adispute over drought assistance to southwestern Manitoba cattle producers has created a split on the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association board of directors. Brian Sterling, MCPA’s District 1 director, recently announced his resignation from the board. District 1 includes the extreme southwestern corner of the province where drought has produced a severe livestock feed shortage. Sterling
MCPA Director Quits Over Drought Assistance
Manitoba Considers Administering AgriStability
Manitoba may follow other provinces, most recently Saskatchewan and British Columbia, in administering the AgriStability program alone. Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives will consider whether to assume full administration for the federal-provincial program instead of having Ottawa run it, said MAFRI Minister Rosann Wowchuk. “If we were going to do it, we would have
Manitoba Crops Vary But Not Too Bad Overall
“A lot of seeding just did not get done.” – THELMA BLAHEY, MAFRI Although crop conditions vary greatly throughout the province, Manitoba so far is avoiding the crippling drought raging out west. The one word to describe conditions here would be: variable. Too much rain in some places, not enough in others. Recent storms which
SARA In The Stomach Makes Dairy Cows Moody
SARA can be an economically important problem for milk producers. A little-known disease lurking silently in the rumens of dairy cows may be robbing milk producers of hundreds of dollars in lost production without anyone realizing it. It’s basically acid indigestion but with a fancy scientific name: subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA). SARA is a metabolic
Pork Industry’s Chickens Come Home To Roost
One by one, hog farmers trooped to the microphone, struggling with a balky sound system to tell stories of financial ruin and to appeal for government aid. “At least give us some dignity to retire after working for 45 years,” Menno Bergen pleaded with a speakers’ panel of politicians and industry officials. Bergen put his
GM Closures Hit Rural Manitoba Hard
“It’s going to be a big blow to the community, that’s for sure.” – KEN GREAVETT, ERICKSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The long arm of the North American automobile industry crisis has reached beyond Detroit and Oshawa to affect small-town Manitoba. General Motors will shut down at least half a dozen of its dealerships in Manitoba,
Hog Producers Want Pork Profit-Sharing
“A fundamental restructuring of our industry with shared accounting across the supply chain is imperative.” – JURGEN PREUGSCHAS, CPC CHAIRMAN Hog producers want a share of the money which other industry players – processors, food manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers – make from selling pork. The Canadian Pork Council is calling for a way to pass
Hay Foot, Straw Foot Better For Pigs
Pigs can be healthier and more productive with straw under their feet instead of just bare concrete, research at the University of Manitoba indicates. A three-year study at the University of Manitoba’s National Centre for Livestock and the Environment found that group-housed gestating sows on straw had fewer leg and hoof problems and better productivity.
Sow Cull Raises Hog Shortage Spectre
As the hog industry continues its economic free fall and more producers leave the business, a worrisome question arises: will Western Canada have enough pigs for its pork-packing plants? The question would have been unthinkable a few years back when production was booming and the sky seemed the limit for the rapidly expanding pork industry.
Views Surprising At PLUP Consultation
“Agriculture tries to protect everything.” – COMMENT AT LAND USE POLICYMEETING You’d think people in the country would be against urban expansion while people in cities would be OK with it. But a recent Manitoba public land use policy review found that’s not always the case. City dwellers are sometimes more opposed to urban sprawl
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
